Over the last decade, malicious software (malware) has become a pervasive problem for Internet users. In some situations, malware is an exploit, in the form of a program or other file, which is embedded within downloadable content and designed to adversely influence or attack normal operations of a computer. Examples of different types of exploits may include bots, computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spyware, adware, or any other programming that operates within an electronic device (e.g. computer, tablet, smartphone, server, router, wearable technology, or other types of electronics with data processing capability) without permission by the user or an administrator.
For instance, exploits may be present in one or more files infected through any of a variety of attack vectors, where the files are part of network traffic. For instance, as an illustrative example, a file may include an exploit that executes only upon detecting execution of a certain version of an application (e.g. exploit inserted into JavaScript® code that is set to execute only upon detecting Adobe® Reader™ version 9). As another illustrative example, an exploit may be placed within a non-executable file (e.g. JPEG® file), where the exploit is carried into the electronic device undetected by malware detection software. Hence, without a multi-tier static scanning scheme as described below, these types of exploits may not be detected.